Edward I. Edwards

Edward Irving Edwards (1 December 1863-26 January 1931) was Governor of New Jersey (D) from 20 January 1920 to 15 January 1923, succeeding Clarence Edward Case and preceding George Sebastian Silzer, and Senator from New Jersey from 4 March 1923 to 4 March 1929, succeeding Joseph S. Frelinghuysen and preceding Hamilton F. Kean.

Biography
Edward Irving Edwards was born on 1 December 1863 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and he studied law at New York University. Edwards worked as a banker, becoming President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Jersey City, and he was elected to the State Senate in 1918 as a member of the Democratic Party. Edwards became friends with Jersey City political boss Frank Hague, who supported Edwards in his gubernatorial campaign in 1919. Edwards was governor from 1920 to 1923, and he supported Atlantic City criminals Louis Kaestner and Jimmy Darmody during their "coup" against the city's political boss, Enoch Thompson. In 1923, he campaigned against Prohibition as a senator, and he defeated the incumbent easily. However, rival "wet" Democrat Hamilton F. Kean defeated him in the 1928 election, and Edwards would later lose his money during the Wall Street market crash and would be indicted for electoral fraud. After being diagnosed with skin cancer in 1931, a depressed Edwards shot himself.